FOURTEEN_KITTEN
The meeting finally ended.
One by one, the men left the room, quietly discussing business matters as they walked out. Soon, only a few guards remained outside the door.
Aiden stretched his arms slightly.
“That was exhausting,” he muttered.
Alexander looked up from the documents he was organizing.
“You didn’t do anything.”
“I sat there while a room full of mafia men judged me,” Aiden replied. “That counts as emotional work.”
Alexander almost smiled.
Almost.
Aiden turned and began walking toward the door.
“I’m going back to the room.”
Before he could leave, Alexander spoke.
“Kitten.”
Aiden froze.
Slowly… very slowly… he turned around.
“…What did you just call me?”
Alexander looked completely calm.
“I said kitten.”
Aiden stared at him.
“You can’t call me that.”
Alexander leaned back slightly in his chair.
“Why not?”
“Because,” Aiden said, pointing at himself, “I am not a kitten.”
Alexander’s eyes glinted with amusement.
“You’re small. You’re stubborn. And you keep hissing at people.”
Aiden crossed his arms.
“That does not make me a kitten.”
Alexander stood up and walked closer.
“But it fits.”
Aiden tried to look annoyed, but the nickname somehow didn’t sound insulting when Alexander said it.
Still, he refused to admit that.
“Don’t call me that in front of your mafia men,” Aiden warned.
Alexander stepped past him toward the door.
“No promises, kitten.”
Aiden groaned.
“This is going to be a long marriage.”
---
Later that evening, Aiden wandered through one of the quieter hallways of the mansion.
He had gotten bored sitting in the bedroom.
The mansion was so large that he still hadn’t explored most of it.
As he turned a corner, he suddenly heard voices coming from a nearby room.
The door was slightly open.
“…the shipment arrives tomorrow night.”
Aiden paused.
He recognized one of the voices.
Alexander.
Curious, he stepped a little closer.
Another man spoke.
“But the Romano family has been asking questions. If they find out about the deal—”
Alexander interrupted calmly.
“They won’t.”
“And if they do?”
There was a brief silence.
Then Alexander’s voice became colder.
“Then we handle it.”
Aiden swallowed.
Romano family? Shipment?
This definitely sounded like mafia business.
He knew he probably shouldn’t listen.
But before he could move away, the floorboard under his foot creaked.
The voices inside the room stopped immediately.
Aiden froze.
The door suddenly opened.
And Alexander stood there.
Their eyes met.
Aiden tried to smile awkwardly.
“Hi.”
Alexander raised an eyebrow.
“Enjoying your evening walk… kitten?”
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck.
“I may have accidentally overheard something.”
Alexander studied him for a moment.
Then he sighed.
“Well,” he said calmly, “I suppose it was only a matter of time before you started seeing this side of my world.”
And something told Aiden that world was far more dangerous than he had imagined.